In Ernest Hemingway’s memoir A Moveable Feast (1964), he wrote: “All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.” He wrote this about struggling to write.

I have not posted on this blog since September 2024. That is a hard truth. I haven’t wanted to.

It wasn't the first time I’ve been lucky enough to make something at the Hunewill Ranch and it 100% will not be the last time. Recently I directed a one-minute commercial for the Hunewill guest ranch, you can watch it here:

First of all, the camera itself is a Fuji GW690ii. It's got a fixed 90mm lens and natively takes 120 film with a 6x9 aspect frame, which is HUGE. My Hasselblad 530cm also takes 120 film but shoots it shot on a 1x1 square format. So if you were to frame say the normal full frame sensor aspect 3:2 you’d still have to crop A LOT. This particular Fuji camera was built in the mid to late 80s (just like me). And there are other versions of it, for instance, there's the FujiGW90iii - for those keeping count, that's one more “i”, it’s got a different body build and some other fancy things. There's also the Fuji GSW90, which has a wider fixed lens.

Weddings have always been a safe place for me to push myself creatively in photography while also giving a gift to people only I can give. In the last year, I've felt like my wedding game has stepped up considerably. And exactly one year ago there was a wedding that was incredibly special to me, in Sicily. 

Phil and I have launched a new course in Advanced Photography as the year has come to a close.  

2023 has been a big one for me. It started off with me training for a charity boxing match and twirled from there. Since March, my video making took a dive and my blog writing has varied in waves, along with the grasp of my creativity and motivation to do ART. But my photography reminds me of consistently culminating in this new course. 

There are a lot of my fellow photographers who would say a physical photo print is the last step in your photography. These days it can be hard to chase that dragon. My history with printing is a deep one.

I didn’t grow up hunting. Since moving to Tennessee, I’ve been exposed to things a Southern California native wouldn’t likely be exposed to. Hunting was one of those things. For starters, I’ve never killed an animal, and until the last year, I’d never even been on a hunt. In fact, I’d say I didn’t look at it in a favorable light. For context: watch this video of me following around Goose on our first Elk hunt last year; I volunteered to film him on his first Elk hunting adventure.

The Hunewill Guest Ranch is a place my family and I have visited off-and-on since I was 8 years old.. It’s where I learned how to ride a horse with a broken arm, took my first film photo at the age of 10 on a Nikon N2000, drove a car on my own at 13, and still find inspiration, peace, and new friends every summer. 

Lighting is hard. Anyone can do it.

Recently we launched a new course on Udemy.com about artificial lighting for photography. Candidly, I’m not a massive fan of using flashes and strobes in my photography. I’ve always felt that it takes away from my stealthy sneakiness while I click away. In street photography and weddings specifically, I’d prefer that my subjects didn't know the exact moment I was recording light bouncing off their faces. Also, making artificial light look natural is hard. It's honestly something I'm still getting better at, and even as I continue to grow in my art, know that I will never be done learning fully.

“If you're good at something, never do it for free” or so the line goes in The Dark Knight. What if you like doing that thing? Is it a crime to charge money for it? Most definitely not. Could it be the best of both worlds to be paid to do something you like doing? Maybe. What about if it causes you to lose your passion for that thing? Or what if you’re thinking about doing it but you’re scared?

Should you be a wedding photographer?

If you've been following along, you know I was recently in Italy photographing a wedding. Naturally, that might be the next post. It takes me a while to sift and cull and edit a full wedding… so trust, that’s coming. In the meantime, let's take a dive into a concert I also photographed recently that I felt pushed me as an artist, all while having a heck of a lot of fun. Buckle up, this one’s a long one.

Last week I went to Italy to photograph a wedding. The wedding itself is going to be its own post, I have so many beautiful photos to share from it. I was lucky enough to be hired by a student of ours to take photos of their wedding in Sicily. Afterwards I stayed for a few extra days to just relax and be in Italy….

Nietzsche said something along the lines of become yourself. This blog will be that. Bad grammar, bad spelling, no rules other than expressing myself without censorship.